Coming to What Was Meant
by Jek Windu
Summary: In the days and years after Superman Returns, Lois and Clark come close to what might have been meant to be.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is slightly AU in that Superman and Lois had been together for over a year before the events of Superman II. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

The coffee mug was cool against Lois' hand, the cooler liquid inside now little more than sludge as she leaned unmoving against the kitchen counter, the house silent in the night. Richard was gone for next few days, a business trip to the Planet's Europe office. Lois tried to ignore the part of her that was glad for the brief relief from having to see him every morning, have his arms around her every night, all the while wondering how the hell she was going to tell him that their entire life was based on a lie, an assumption she had made to protect herself pain and fear that was now so completely impossible it seemed more fantasy than the truth itself.

Superman was the father of her child.

It didn't exactly surprise her, that he was the father- there'd certainly been plenty of chances for conception. Lois smiled and absently sipped the cold coffee. Her first article on Superman was titled 'I Spent the Night with Superman', and people everywhere had assumed the Man of Steel had a girlfriend- so of course, when she'd written the editorial, those same people had assumed she was a jilted lover. She wondered what they would think if she ever wrote one titled 'I had Superman In My Bed Every Night for Over A Year'.

Things had started about as far from sexy as it could get- her trying to escape security guards after sticking her nose in the business of yet another dirty politician, and Superman saving her from what might have been a quiet shot to the head. He had taken her home, and she had asked him to stay- then they were kissing, hands moving everywhere and she had found herself on her bed, staring in anticipation as he nervously removed his suit. Afterwards, when she had awoken to find an empty bed and a hastily written note, she had brushed it off as a spur of the moment bought on by too much adrenaline, that it would become nothing more than a fond, funny, impossible memory. Yet he had shown up at her window a few nights later, almost too nervous to say hi.

Lois took another sip, rolling the slightly bitter stuff on her tongue before throwing the sludge in the sink and making her way to the stairs. She was almost past Jason's door when she heard it- a faint _whoosh_. She turned back, knowing it could never have been something as normal as wind, and looked through the small crack.

The Man of Steel sat on her...their son's bed, quiet and still, just watching him. Lois couldn't help but smile. She had only seen him so at peace once, back then during that year. She closed her eyes and stilled herself as she opened the door. He looked up immediately, not a trace of surprise in his blue eyes.

"Hello, Lois."

"Hello." she whispered, unsure. How was she supposed to go about this? 'Hi. I'm still pissed off at you for leaving for five years while I was pregnant with your son, met and got engaged to another man, but now that you're back I want you again.'? That wouldn't exactly fly. She let out a breath and continued.

"We need to talk. Follow me." Lois headed back down the stairs feeling his gaze on her back, the effect it had on her same as when she first saw him.

He choose to stand while she again leaned on the counter.

"I don't know where to begin." she said, his reply given with a smile.

"I'm not really sure either." Why was this so hard? She loved him, he was the father of her child. It should be simple!

"I have...questions. Will he...grow out of his asthma, his allergies? Will he be as strong as you?"

"I was a bit sickly until I was about 10. As for his powers, I don't know. Has he shown any signs of them yet?"

"He saved my life on Luthor's ship. By throwing a piano."

"Oh." Silence. Her eyes roamed over the blue and red suit and cape she'd grown so used to. Superman spoke once more.

"We have to tell him."

"I know. We have to tell Richard too- but how?" He paused for a moment, grimacing, almost as if he were fighting something.

"I think that we should tell Richard first." he said, words clipped, the lack of emotion speaking more than if he had yelled to the heavens.

"He was there."

"What?"

"That's why I started seeing Richard, why I let myself believe he was Jason's father- because he was there."

"Lois, I-"

"We were together for a year, and only once were you still there when I woke up. You're the father of my child, and I don't even know you're name."

"Kal-El."

"What's your Earth name? Who are you when you walk down the street, when you go to buy groceries?" He stared her a moment, sizing her up, something like fear in his eyes. She crossed her arms, and the fear became resignation as he reached into his boot. And pulled out a pair of coke bottle glasses, putting them on his face with practiced grace.

Superman was Clark Kent.

Oh.

Well, then.

"You don't seem too surprised." he spoke with a nervous smile.

"Try watching your asthmatic five-year-old toss a piano, and see if much of anything surprises you."

"What happens now?"

"I have no idea. But I know we'll do it together."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He wanted to hate him. He wanted to loathe him with every fiber of his being. Superman sat still on the couch beside Lois while she explained to Richard the truth, and he watched the man, wanting desperately to take pleasure, revenge, in the look of pain as he listened. There had been times when he had wanted to kill Lex Luthor, but he had first heard things, he had wanted Richard White to never exist. He wanted to hate this man so badly, and yet he...couldn't. Lois finished her tale, Richard's face twisted in bewilderment and pain. His mouth worked a few times before the words came.

"I always knew that...the dates didn't quite match up, but this...," Clark's eyes studied the man as he buried his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Several deep breaths and he continued," Can I...can I ask if it was a...one-time thing, or-"

"We were together for over a year." he tried, tried to put gloating, triumph in the words, but nothing would come- why, why couldn't he hate this man? Richard nodded numbly, the resigned acceptance clear in his eyes.

"I suppose that you'll want to be together." No response was necessary. He opened his mouth once more, and Clark did everything he could to stamp out the tendrils of pity.

"I'll understand if you want me to stay away from Jason." The damn broke, the words tumbling out of Kal-El's mouth as he remembered Lois' words the night before and knew why he didn't hate this man.

"No! You can still see him. You...you were there for them, when I wasn't. I can never repay you for that." Richard nodded slowly, a little of the despair leaving. Clark studied him for a moment, and spoke again.

"Since you're going to be part of Jason's life, there's something I need to show you." Lois grabbed his arm.

"Are you sure?"

"He needs to know, Lois. He deserves to." Idly wondering if this was going to become a ritual, he reached into his boot, and put on his glasses. Richard's mouth dropped, eyes wide as more of the impossible turned out to be fact.

"Holy shit." Clark frowned behind the frames- surprise was to be expected, but did he have to be so utterly flabbergasted?

Kal-El watched his son look nervously around the room, at the serious faces of the three adults sitting on the couch. Again it was Lois' job to explain.

"Jason, honey, do you remember what I told you about mommies and daddies?" The boy nodded and smiled, the man in the red cape melting a little inside at just how much those blue eyes were like his.

"Uh-huh. When a man and woman fall in love, they make a child, like you and daddy." All of adults smiled at how completely simple everything was to the boy.

"Well, you see, Jason, before me and your daddy got together, Superman and I were in love. We loved each other so much, that we made you."

"So Superman is my daddy?" the boy asked with a frown.

"We're both your daddy." Richard said quickly, and Clark wasn't sure if it were for Jason's sake or his own.

"So I have two daddies?" They all nodded. Jason's face lit up, his grin wide and Kal-El thought for a moment he was going to say swell.

"Cool!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was strange how five years could pass so slowly, and yet the next six could seem a blink, a trick of the eye. It had only been a month after ending things with Richard before she and Clark became open about their relationship. The office had, of course, been completely shocked- how could Lois Lane choose Clark Kent? And then, when Jason began to hand around Clark's desk at all hours, they began to see: the same blue eyes, the dark hair, and the identical grins.

It had been another year before they married, and after that, they had settled into the routine of him saving the world on a daily basis and her covering for him while Jason was merely thrilled to have the Man of Steel as his father.

Six years. An eye blink. A heaven.

Lois tried to calm herself as she stood waiting with Clark and Richard in the living room of the home Richard had let them keep- an early wedding present, he said. Lois had known everything would be okay when she heard no bitterness in his voice. She heard the footsteps on the stairs, looking to the 11-year-old form of Jason trotting down and brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He had grown so much, and yet Lois still expected to see a little boy grabbing her leg to show her another picture to be stuck on the fridge. The boy reached the floor and stared at his three parents, quirking an eyebrow as he spoke.

"What's going on, and why are you all looking like you want to pinch my cheeks?" The mother grinned as Clark stepped forward, cape just off the carpet and somehow spoke with both grace and anxiety.

"Jason, you've known I was your father since you were little, but now we all think you're old enough to know the rest." The boy's eyebrow rose even further towards his bangs that had again fallen into his eyes. Clark took a deep breath, and then reached once more into his boot, retrieving a pair glasses Lois marveled were still in one piece. Pushing them up his nose, Kal-El looked back to his son. Jason was silent for a moment staring at his father blankly.

"You keep them in your boots? Doesn't that get uncomfortable?"

"You're...you're not surprised?"

"Uh...no, I've known you were Superman since I was five."

"Really? How?" Jason looked at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Your disguise is a pair of glasses," he looked to Lois and Richard," you guys knew too, right?" The adults were silent, wondering when a toddler became smarter than them.

"You guys really- really didn't...? How? I mean- Nevermind." He turned, trotting back up the stairs, mumbling something that sound suspiciously like '-ups are so stupid.' The three stood there, utterly silent.

Well, then.

End


End file.
